Impasse continues at EC colleges over student funding

By SISIPHO ZAMXAKA and SINO MAJANGAZA

A row over student living allowances has placed two Eastern Cape colleges in limbo.

Five thousand students of Lovedale and King Hintsa technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges are boycotting classes and might not sit for their mid-year exams scheduled to begin on May 29.

The students have been protesting for weeks, and their academic programme has fallen behind badly.

According to minimum requirement regulations laid down by the Higher Education and Training Department (DHET), the students can only write their exams if their test marks have been submitted and approved by the department and if students have attended a minimum of 80% of classes. Neither requirement appears to have been met.

The protest turned violent in recent weeks and both colleges have obtained court interdicts to prevent all protesting students from being on campus.

Eight Lovedale students have been arrested and are facing charges of public violence and damage to property.

At King Hintsa’s Teko campus outside Butterworth, rioting students caused damage estimated at R3.5-million after an academic block was torched and other premises damaged.

When the Dispatch team visited Lovedale College’s Alice campus and King Hintsa’s Teko campus this week, both were quiet and no teaching was taking place.

The student protest broke out two months ago over a reduction in funding for monthly food and accommodation costs. The students claim the funding was reduced from R550 to R200 at King Hintsa, and from R1500 to R1200 at Lovedale.

Lovedale vice-principal Kenneth Fassi said the college had a bursary scheme, executed according to the rules and guidelines stipulated by the department of higher education and training (DHET). The scheme uses money allocated by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

Fassi said: “An allowance must not be perceived as an entitlement, but rather as a means of support which may be awarded to a student on the basis of academic performance, subject to availability of funds.”

When the Dispatch spoke to the principals from both colleges, they indicated that they had in the past allocated most of the NSFAS bursary fund to food and accommodation allowances because the majority of students came from substantially disadvantaged backgrounds.

DHET rules and guidelines state: “Prioritisation of college fees is intended to protect the college and the student from unnecessary debt related to college fees. Colleges must earmark the minimum of 70% of the total bursary allocation to cover the college fees of qualifying students.”

King Hintsa principal Noluthando Balfour said the previous school administrator had not followed these rules and guidelines.

Balfour said she could not deviate from the rules. She said the allowance decided on by the college in 2013 was out of kilter with what was set out in the national guidelines, but she was not in the post at the time.

She admitted that the problems with the allowance amounts had continued during her time at the helm but she was trapped by the 2013 decision.

She said at a meeting on May 15 between parents, students and college management it was agreed that all students could return to campus on condition that:

lStudent unrest ceased and amicable solutions be sought to resolve disputes;

lStudents refrained from vandalising college resources;

lStudents attended classes and adhere to agreed conditions;

lStudents and parents were required to sign commitment forms.

Balfour said the college was in an impasse because the students disputed the college’s assertion that they were merely complying with the national guidelines. — sisiphoz@

dispatch.co.za/sinom@dispatch.co.za